Greetings, friends!\n\n\n\nAnother few months have passed, which means it\'s time for another Swordhaven update; this one inspired by both our roadmap and your feedback: ideas and suggestions from the forums, Discord, as well as those we have got while featuring our game on Gamescom this August.\n\n \n\nNow, without further ado: what\'s new?\n\n\n\nThis update introduces the Merchant background. Like all the others, the Merchant gets a unique first companion, a personal quest, and their own dungeon.\n\n\n\nThe Thieves Guild has its first quest, and Swordhaven now has a few more characters, along with new loot and books for the bookseller. We\'ve also started working on the end-game content, though it\'s still a bit too early to show it to you.\n\n\n\nSeveral smaller locations have also been added. You can now explore the Bleached Bone Cave and the mansion near Swordhaven (which you\'ll be able to settle in the future). There\'s also a new test ferry NPC at the Drunken Snapper Inn who can take you to the upper part of the map.\n\n\n\nSpeaking of exploration, beta players can now try out a new mode of transportation we\'ve saved for the mid-to-late game: sea travel. There\'s a work-in-progress version of the character who grants you Angra, a sturdy ship fit for roaming the Gulf of Swordhaven.\n\n\n\nTo make travelling the map more fun, both on water and on dry land, we\'ve added new text-based and combat encounters. You might come across giant worms in the savannah, improved (and generally tougher) featherbeasts, new giant frog variants and jungle-dwelling pumas, or face off against pirates and sea jellies on the open seas.\n\n\n\nThe hunting mechanic has also been updated for the new region types, each hunt type featuring a unique flavour and a small percentage chance to discover and fight a unique hunt superboss in each of the three new biomes.\n\n\n\nTaking your suggestions on board, we\'ve expanded the character customisation options. New head variants have been added to the character creation menu, though they\'re still a work in progress.\n\n\nYour companions got new pictures for their specific backgrounds.\n\nYour suggestions have also influenced enemy and companion balance, the placement of HP bars (which now hover above everything), and the issue you reported with activating interactive objects from too far away, which has been fixed in all known cases.\n\nYou can also now craft a potion with the Enthrall effect, which makes human enemies fight on your side for a few rounds, and learn the Beast Call ability from a book found in Swordhaven, allowing you to use a Survival check to temporarily recruit non-boss, non-plant-based creatures for a few rounds at a time.\n\n\n\nAnother issue you reported was friendly fire, which is now fixed for most skills, with more patches on the way. Friendly fire will still apply for certain enemy skills and items, such as the explosive potions you can craft at the alchemy station.\n\n\n\nAs always, new weapon models, new armour and shield models and icons were added to the game with this update.\n\nWe really hope that you enjoy trying out the Merchant in Swordhaven 0.8, and please stay tuned for much, much more!\n\nYours,\nAtom Team\n\n